MLSsoccer.com San Diego FC stun Toluca, Galaxy win & Inter Miami, Nashville SC draw in Champions Cup Los Angeles Daily News Gabriel Pec’s hat trick propels Galaxy past Mount Pleasant FA in Champions Cup Round of 16 opener USA Today Jamaican club Mt. Pleasant to face LA Galaxy shorthanded after visa rejections San Diego Union-Tribune Shorthanded San Diego FC wins again in Champions Cup, tops Toluca East Village Times Despite early red card, San Diego FC holds off Toluca FC, 3-2 Miami Herald Messi must wait for 900th goal, Inter Miami ties Nashville 0-0 in Champions Cup ESPN Blank in Nashville puts Miami's Concacaf Champions Cup dream on hold Is Nashville SC-Inter Miami, Lionel Messi a true 'rivalry' yet? If not, it's close MLSsoccer.com Matchday 4: What to know for this weekend's biggest matches MLSsoccer.com Orlando City mutually part ways with Oscar Pareja ESPN Oscar Pareja out as Orlando City coach after 6 seasons The New York Times Atlanta, Tata Martino preach process over quick fix for winless, success-starved club - The Athletic Athlon Sports Tim Howard Addresses Backlash For Moving D.C. United vs Inter Miami To Baltimore ESPN How Mascherano won over Inter Miami, their fans and MLS Cup Pioneer Press Loons’ Nectar Triantis dedicates incredible goal to late mother Prost International Free agent midfielder Diego Fagúndez to sign with New England Revolution Goal.com Retire or join Lionel Messi in MLS? ‘Truly massive’ Neymar future claim made by World Cup-winning ex-Brazi international Kleberson Sports Illustrated Atletico Madrid Star Antoine Griezmann Speaks Out on MLS Transfer Talks
ESPN Blank in Nashville puts Miami's Concacaf Champions Cup dream on hold This article characterizes the draw as a letdown for Inter. I think it's healthier to see a road draw as a good result, turning the replay into a home game.
Athlon Sports Tim Howard Addresses Backlash For Moving D.C. United vs Inter Miami To Baltimore Me again . . . How much of this amounts to a real "backlash"? Is this some (justified) squawking from a few vocal fans or is the whole fanbase really pissed about this? Last year the Columbus fans criticized ownership for moving their home game vs Inter to Cleveland which is a couple hours' drive from Columbus. DCU moving this game to Baltimore seems no big deal to me, considering it triples the capacity of the regular venue and is basically an hour away. I remember when I was a kid FA Cup games were sometimes moved from the home team's smaller venue to the away team's larger one -- at the request of the home team -- for the financial benefits for the smaller teams. I imagine some fans were disappointed by this but most probably supported the practical benefits of it. They no longer do it, but sometimes games are relocated to a neutral venue when it makes sense. Anyway the headline mentions a "backlash" which the article doesn't really deliver upon, and Tim Howard calls it basically a non-issue (and I agree).
You want to grow the game is shouted from the roof tops by MLS fans but just do it without making money because then it's a money grab. . I don't get it in the least when you look at a stadium two hours away being filled with fans that MLS will benefit from the revenue and fans being upset. Maybe DC United could do a little PR and give a general idea where the cash will be spent from this game. Upgrade to facilities, money into youth system, maybe give a portion to local teams in the community to help grow the fan base. Sadly MLS has a problem with transparency and never seems to get out in front of a situation like this.
Bingo. Its well established that I think the Rapids moving the Messi game to Empower is a mistake. This is largely for two reasons. The first is that our FO/ownership is incompetent enough that I highly doubt any new long-term fans will be created by the move. The second is that KSE has never shown any inkling of reinvesting the revenues from something like this in the team. So if both those points are true (which is admittedly supposition at this point) what benefit is the club getting from the move. No new investment and no new fans, so then what? If ownership and/or MLS were more transparent about the benefits and then actually followed through on them I think a lot more die-hard fans would be on board with these moves.
Well I don't think you can say no new fans. Who's to say that in this game at Empower you don't have someone with Apple TV that might now start watching games? I watch many a game and Paxten, Yapi and Navarro are a fun attacking trio. If they could actually beat Inter Miami that would help. I think San Diego might have made some new fans last night. Winning would help the most but as a die hard fan it would be nice if they shared more information. It seems it's slowly happening as you see TV numbers for the first week, how much money (GAM) teams have... but they need to do way more.
I was at the game. DC United did a good job helping STMs get seats comparable to our season ticket seats. Around me were a lot of other DC United season ticket holders and fans. However, the stadium itself was 60-70% Messi and South American fans. So, I'd assume that there were a lot of folks getting their first exposure to MLS and/or DC United. However, they weren't getting an "authentic" experience. The Barra tried their best but the stadium was too large for the drums and chants. This is similar to EPL games I've seen at M&T Bank as well. My complaint was that the traffic was insane, even by DC standards before and after the match.